By John Irish
PARIS (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to end the “madness,” prompting President Volodymr Zelenskiy to say he cannot there is peace without guarantees.
Trump made his comments just hours after meeting Zelenskiy in Paris for their first face-to-face talks since Trump won last month’s US election. Trump has promised to bring about a negotiated end to the conflict, but has so far provided no details.
“Zelensky and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media platform, adding that kyiv had lost some 400,000 troops. “There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin.”
“I know Vladimir well. This is the time to act. China can help. The world is waiting!” Trump added, referring to Russian President Putin.
Trump, who was in Paris for the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral, sat down with Zelenskiy on Saturday for about an hour, along with host President Emmanuel Macron.
Trump and Zelenskiy shook hands and smiled, but it was unclear how the conversation had gone. Accounts of the talks from the French and Ukrainian sides said only that they had been good and productive.
Zelenskiy reacted to Trump’s message on Sunday by saying that peace was not just a piece of paper, but needed guarantees.
“When we talk about effective peace with Russia, first and foremost we must talk about effective guarantees for peace. Ukrainians want peace more than anyone,” he said on X.
“(The war) cannot simply end with a piece of paper and a few signatures. An unsecured ceasefire can be reactivated at any time, as Putin has done before. To ensure that Ukrainians no longer suffer losses, we must ensure the reliability of peace and not turning a blind eye to the occupation.
It seemed that Trump’s figure of 400,000 Ukrainian soldiers lost in the war meant both dead and wounded. Zelenskiy said 43,000 soldiers had died in the war and 370,000 were wounded.
(Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv; Editing by Frances Kerry)